South Carolina officials have requested permission from Kansas State officials to speak with Frank Martin about the Gamecocks’ head coaching vacancy, a source close to the process told Sporting News on Friday night.

Martin has been coach at K-State since 2007, his first head coaching job after stints as an assistant at Northeastern, Cincinnati and with the Wildcats. He has led the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament four times in his five seasons and has advanced in three of those, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2010.

Martin has a career record of 117-54, with 20-win seasons in each year as a head coach.

South Carolina is looking for a replacement for Darrin Horn. The Gamecocks struggled through much of his four seasons as coach, finishing 10-21 this season after losing 11 of their final 12 games. The program has made only one NCAA appearance since 1998.

A Miami native, Martin had been interested enough in the vacant Miami Hurricanes position last April to go public that his salary was not $1.5 million, as reported, but closer to $1.1 and that he’d need to hit every bonus to approach the former figure. Miami instead hired Jim Larranaga.

Martin is known for his intense style on the sideline. Kansas State’s success under Martin has been the program’s best period since Lon Kruger days of the late 1980s. That was the last time the Wildcats made at least three consecutive NCAA appearances and advanced to an Elite Eight.